The fruit and vegetable sector needs improvement

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/12-2026.01

Dr. Ferenc Apáti
president
FruitVeB Magyar
Hungarian Fruit and
Vegetable Interbranch
Organisation and Product Council

Growing import dependence

In Hungary the volume of fruit and vegetable production has stabilised at around 2 million tonnes in recent years, compared to 2.5 million tonnes in 2000-2010. Parallel to the decline in production, exports are falling and imports are rising: the country is increasingly unable to supply its own market from domestic production.

“Some damage effects can only be mitigated through costly interventions. The entire growing area must be irrigated and plantations must also be equipped with frost and ice protection technologies”,

explains Dr Ferenc Apáti, president of FruitVeB, the Hungarian Fruit and Vegetable Interbranch Organisation and Product Council.

Need for modernisation

The volume of fruit production has been declining steadily over the past decade and a half. 75% of domestic plantation areas aren’t irrigated. 40-50% of plantations are outdated and potentially uncompetitive, 25-30% can be developed and only 25-30% can be considered truly professional, intensive plantations. Since joining the EU, the vegetable sector has suffered a significant decline in terms of both area and volume: the area under capital-, labour- and expertise-intensive open-field and greenhouse crops has decreased by 30-50%. Open field cultivation is particularly vulnerable: it is likely that in the future open-field vegetable production will only be possible under 100% irrigated conditions.

The downturn in the fruit and vegetable sector is primarily attributable to internal weaknesses and regulatory pressures